Hand-stamp



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

NATI-IAN AMES, OF SAUGUS, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO BOSTON HAND STAMP COMPANY,` OF BOSTON, ).IASSAOHUSETTS HAND-STAMP.

Specication of Letters Patent No'. 16,167, dated December 2, 1856.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, NATHAN AMEs of Saugus, in the county of Essex and Oommonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Automatic Hand-Stamp; and I do hereby declare t-hat the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the annexed dra-wings, forming a part of this specification.

Figure l is a perspective view of the machine, and is intended to be about as large as a stamp of the medium size.

A is a wood, or metallic, handle, with a hole in it as indicated by the dotted lines, for the wire, D D, to play in.

B is the type block, of hard wood or metal, the bottom of which is either' engraved or covered with an electrotype, or whatever the printing surface may be. In the upper side is a hole large enough to allow1 the shank, or lower end of the handle, A, to rock with freedom in any direction. The form of this shank, as also the dimen sions of the hole in the block, may be seen by inspecting Fig. 2. Thus hung, like the platen of common printing presses, and other presses, it is obvious that, at whatever angle one would naturally strike, the printing surface will conform to the flat bed, or table, on which the article to be printed is placed. Or, B may be a fixed movable part of A.

O is a wire the upper end of which is fastin the handle, A, while the lower end enters a hole in the block, B,-the hole (see Fig. 2) being small in the center and larger at both ends so as to admit of Bs rocking freely in any direct-ion. The object of this wire, O, is to keep the block, B, up to its bearing on the shank, A, and also prevent it, (B), from turning.

D D, is a. wire about one fourth of an inch in diameter, bent as seen in Fig. l, one end of it entering the handle, A, as represented by the dotted lines. The object of the wires entering the handle, is to prevent the former and those parts attached to it, from turning.

E and F are iron bolts, or arms, fast in the handle, A. Through the outer ends of these are holes for the wire, D D, to play in.

G is a piece of cast, or wrought, iron, with a hole in it of the diameter of the wire,

D D, over which it is slipped and then fastened to it, in the proper place, by means of a pin or screw.

H is a coil-spring, the upper end of which pressing against. the arm, F, and lower end against the piece, G, G being fast to D, will always have a tendency to push down the wire, D D, into the position seen in the ligure.

I is a strong wire, passing through the piece G, and bent as seen in the-figure, for giving motion to the inking roller, K. This wire is prevented from rising too high by means of a screw, or pin, J, against which it strikes, said screw or pin, J, being fast in the handle, A. It is also so long as to carry the roller, K, a little beyond the bottom of the type block, B, seen in the figure, so that K may revolve freely on its axis, and thus pass over the type each time in a new position.

K, the inking roller, has a hole through its center, small in the middle and larger toward each end, so as to rock freely on the wire, I, on which it revolves, being prevented from flying off laterally by means of a nut or pin. This roller may be covered with woolen cloth, deer, or sheep, skin (iiesh-side out) or other material capable of holding the desirable quantity of ink.

L is a coil-spring which stretches between the lower part of D D, and the short end of the wire, I,-its object being to give the inking roller, K, the requisitel pressure on the bottom of the type-block, B.

Operation: The inking roller, K, being sufficiently charged with ink, the operator takes the handle, A, of the machine, in his hand, and strikes down upon the paper, or article to be printed, exactly as he would if the stamp consisted only of the handle, A, and type block, B. It is obvious, then, that the lower end of the wire, D D, will first strike the article to be printed; the spring, H, will be compressed, the arms, E and F sliding upon the wire, D D; and the roller, K, (being acted upon by two forces; the perpendicular, represented by the block, B; and the diagonal, represented by the wire, I), will first roll over the printing surface,V or bottom of the block, B, and then overthe back side of the same. Instead of striking the end of the wire, D D, upon the article to be printed, it will be quite as well to let the former rest upon the latter before commencing to press the handle down. On lifting the stamp, it is also obvious that the compressed spring, I-I, will recoil and carry with it the wire, D D, and the roller, K, back into the position represented in the figure. The farther the piece, G, is from the arm, E, the farther will the roller K (being kept up by the spring L) be carried back from the position in which it is represented in Fig. 1; and vice versa. Thus by one downward Inotion of the hand, the types are inked (being twice passed over by the roller) and the impression produced; thereby saving all the time that must otherwise be consumed in reeling olf the stamp from the platen, or thing to be stamped, to a position over the ink fountain, striking it down for ink, and bringing it back preparatory to making a single impression.

I do not' claim, in this machine, the principle by which the inking roller, K, is made to pass over the bottom and back of the type block, B, but

What I claim as new in this machine, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

In combination with the other parts of any stamp to be held in the hand, the leg, or wire, D D, so constructed as to strike the article to be printed, in advance of the typeblock, B, and thereby cause the inking roller, as described, to pass over the printing surface while the latter is descending. I do not confine myself to any particular manner, as there may be many, in which the leg, D D, may be made to communicate motion to the inking roller; butl I claim this leg, D D, both independently'of the inking apparatus, and also combined with it and the other parts of the stamp, in any manner substantially the same as that described.

NATHAN AMES.

I/Vitnesses:

DANL. A. AMES, L. A. AMES. 

